Lord Mike Storey is the Lib Dem spokesman on education in the House of Lords and will be visiting two south Shropshire towns whose leisure centres both receive funding via schools, and face a shortfall of tens of thousands of pounds due to cuts.
Lord Storey, who was a headteacher and also leader of Liverpool City Council, is expected to visit Church Stretton on January 22, where the future of the town’s swimming pool is being reviewed.
He will then visit Norbury Primary School, near Bishop’s Castle area, and the SpArC Centre in Bishop’s Castle, which is also threatened by cuts.The report also quotes Charlotte Barnes, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Bishop's Castle:
"Our leisure centres contribute to the well-being of our residents, they help to keep people healthy and happy.
"They must save the care budgets a fortune and of course they are one of the few places to offer young people activities in our more isolated areas."The scale of the cuts being inflicted on council spending represents an area of vulnerability for the Tories. David Cameron, for one, has not grasped what George Osborne is doing to local services.
I hope the Lib Dems will take up this issue in the way that Mike Storey and Charlotte Barnes are in Shropshire. Such a campaign will mean more to our traditional voters than a call for further tax cuts.
